43 cities
Metro systems the app covers.
Source: UnionPay International — Nihao China app official page (read July 24, 2026)
Payment choice
Nihao China vs Alipay vs Weixin Pay for tourists
In short
Which China payment app should a first-time visitor use?
Use one established wallet you can open quickly at checkout, usually Alipay or Weixin Pay, then add Nihao China for transport. UnionPay names UnionPay cards issued outside the mainland plus Visa and Mastercard as examples of what tops the app up, and publishes no complete card list, so test it before you depend on it. Keep card and cash backup for the first 48 hours.
Build app setup orderApplies to
Foreign visitors comparing Nihao China, Alipay, Weixin Pay, overseas bank cards, QR payment, transport QR, restaurants, taxis, hotels, and first-day purchases in mainland China.
Check before you rely on it
App rollout, card eligibility, top-up rules, transaction limits, fees, identity checks, transport support, and merchant QR behavior can change. Recheck inside the official apps before departure.
Information checked:
Nihao China is a useful new visitor app, but the first checkout still needs a tested wallet, working phone data, bank approval, and a plain fallback. Choose the payment stack that can survive the first restaurant, taxi, or station counter.
Decision table
Choose the payment stack by failure risk
The winner is not the app with the longest feature list. It is the setup that still works when the traveler is tired, offline, or facing a cashier queue.
Method
Best for
Watch out for
First move
Nihao China
Transport above all: UnionPay states metro coverage in 43 cities and bus coverage across more than 1,760 county-level regions, plus in-store acceptance across more than 1,000 service scenarios.
UnionPay names UnionPay cards issued outside the mainland plus Visa and Mastercard as examples, and publishes no complete card list. No fee and no transaction limit is published on either UnionPay page. The listing is on version 1.0.8, released 2026-09-18.
Register with an email address or mobile number, then fund it the way UnionPay documents: top up a Tour Balance, which needs a mobile number and an SMS code, or bind a card.
Alipay
Everyday merchant payments, scan/pay-code checkout, mini-programs, hotel and travel services, and travelers who want a widely recognized wallet path.
Foreign-card payments can still fail because of merchant QR type, identity checks, network issues, limits, or bank risk controls.
Set it up before departure and learn both Scan and Pay Code before the first restaurant.
Weixin Pay
Travelers already using WeChat or needing a second major wallet for restaurants, taxis, small shops, and some social or service flows.
Setup screens, overseas card support, identity prompts, and PayPal or regional wallet connections can vary by account and rollout.
Prepare it as the second wallet or primary wallet only if the payment screen and linked card are ready.
Card and cash backup
Hotels, larger merchants, staffed counters, emergency fallback, and the first 48 hours when a wallet or network prompt fails.
Foreign card terminals are not universal, and cash may be slower or awkward at QR-first merchants.
Carry a physical card, a second card if possible, and a small cash reserve for the first day.
Published coverage
What UnionPay states the app actually covers
These are the operator's own figures. The transport numbers are the strongest reason to carry the app alongside a main wallet, because city-by-city transport codes are one of the most annoying parts of a first week.
1,760+ county-level regions
Public bus networks the app covers.
Source: UnionPay International — Nihao China app official page (read July 24, 2026)
1,000+ service scenarios
In-store acceptance, integrating UnionPay, Alipay and Weixin Pay.
Source: UnionPay International — Nihao China app official page (read July 24, 2026)
160+ currencies
Real-time exchange rates offered in the app.
Source: UnionPay International — “Nihao China”APP正式上线 银联助力入境游便利化水平提升 (December 19, 2025; read July 24, 2026)
Card eligibility
UnionPay names examples, not a list
UnionPay's launch announcement says the app supports top-up with UnionPay cards issued outside the Chinese mainland and with Visa, Mastercard and other mainstream international bank cards. The sentence is open-ended, and neither of UnionPay's pages publishes a complete list of accepted networks — so if you hold American Express, JCB, Discover or Diners Club, UnionPay's own text neither promises acceptance nor rules it out. Weixin Pay is the better-documented option because Tencent publishes its full network list, not because Nihao China is known to exclude anything.
UnionPay International launched the app at the China International Travel Mart on December 19, 2025, the only date its announcement carries.
Source: UnionPay International — “Nihao China”APP正式上线 银联助力入境游便利化水平提升 (December 19, 2025; read July 24, 2026)
Line by line · read October 6, 2026
What UnionPay and Apple actually publish about cards, funding and sign-up
Four claims that used to sit on this page were not in UnionPay's own text: a closed three-network card list, a second announcement date, an Apple sign-in route, and a seven-month-old version snapshot. Each row below prints the published sentence instead, so you can check it on the page we read.
| What it means before you install | As published | Source and reference |
|---|---|---|
| UnionPay names card examples, not a complete list The sentence ends in 等 — «and others of that kind» — which makes Visa and Mastercard examples alongside UnionPay cards issued outside the mainland, not the whole set. UnionPay publishes no complete list of accepted networks on either of its pages, so a traveller holding American Express, JCB, Discover or Diners Club cannot confirm acceptance from UnionPay's own text, and cannot be told it is ruled out either. Note the verb too: 充值, top up. What UnionPay says those cards do is put money into the app. | 支付方面，应用支持银联外卡及Visa、万事达等国际主流银行卡充值，支持线上线下消费场景多元化支付，涵盖交通、住宿、购物等各类高频消费场景，让入境游客群“无缝”体验便捷的二维码支付。 | Payment paragraph (支付方面) “Nihao China”APP正式上线 银联助力入境游便利化水平提升 The Nihao China app goes live: UnionPay helps make inbound travel easier UnionPay International (银联国际), on its own corporate newsroom — 媒体中心 › 新闻中心 › 公司新闻, footer 「© 银联国际版权所有」 Open the source, read 2026-10-06 |
| One launch date, printed twice on UnionPay's own page UnionPay released the app at the China International Travel Mart in Haikou on December 19, 2025. That date is the page's dateline and the first clause of its body, and it is the only date the page carries — so it is the only launch date this site states. | 2025年12月19日，中国国际旅游交易会在海南国际会议展览中心正式开幕。在本次大会的文旅创新首发集活动中，银联正式发布“Nihao China”APP。 | Dateline and opening paragraph “Nihao China”APP正式上线 银联助力入境游便利化水平提升 The Nihao China app goes live: UnionPay helps make inbound travel easier UnionPay International (银联国际), on its own corporate newsroom — 媒体中心 › 新闻中心 › 公司新闻, footer 「© 银联国际版权所有」 Open the source, read 2026-10-06 |
| Registration is an email address or a mobile number This is the only registration route any UnionPay page publishes. The launch announcement does not discuss registration at all, so nothing on UnionPay's side describes signing in with an Apple account, and this page no longer says that route exists. | Download & Register — Install the Nihao China in your app store. Register using your email or mobile number. | Quick Start Guide, Step 1 Nihao China App — official app page, Quick Start Guide UnionPay International, on its own campaign host m.unionpayintl.com. English-language and operator-published. Open the source, read 2026-10-06 |
| Two funding routes, and the one UnionPay lists first needs a working mobile number UnionPay publishes the Tour Wallet route before the card route and separates them with «Or», so they are alternatives: enable a Tour Balance and top it up, or bind a bank card directly. Enabling the Tour Wallet takes a mobile number and an SMS code even though registration itself accepts an email address — which is a pre-arrival problem worth solving at home, not at a metro gate. UnionPay never says which networks work on which route, so this page does not pair them. | Activate Tour Wallet / Enable Tour Balance — Tap “Enable” button and proceed by entering your mobile number and SMS verification code as guided on the page. / Tap “Top Up” button and follow the prompts to complete the transaction. / Or Bind Your Bank Card — Tap “+” button and follow the prompts to complete the process. | Quick Start Guide, Step 2 Nihao China App — official app page, Quick Start Guide UnionPay International, on its own campaign host m.unionpayintl.com. English-language and operator-published. Open the source, read 2026-10-06 |
| Still a 1.0.x build, but one shipped three weeks before we read it Apple publishes the current version as 1.0.8 with a release date of 2026-09-18. That retires the older reading of this listing as a first-version app sitting untouched since launch: it is young, and it is being maintained. The publisher and the system requirement are re-read unchanged — China UnionPay Co., Ltd., iOS 13.0 or later — which is still a reason to carry it beside an established wallet rather than instead of one. | "version":"1.0.8" | Listing fields: version, currentVersionReleaseDate Nihao China — App Store listing Apple, for the listing published by China UnionPay Co., Ltd. (中国银联) Open the source, read 2026-10-06 Read from Apple's own listing-data endpoint for this listing, which returns the store address above in its own trackViewUrl field. Same publisher, same listing, as data rather than as a rendered store page — so the figures below are what Apple publishes, not a screenshot we read. |
| Two dozen interface languages, where this page once said five Apple's listing carries 25 language entries covering 24 distinct languages, ZH appearing twice. Arabic, Khmer, Lao, Mongolian, Persian, Thai, Ukrainian and Vietnamese now sit alongside the original five of English, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Simplified Chinese. If you discounted this app because it only ran in five languages, that reason has expired. | "languageCodesISO2A":["AR", "KM", "NL", "EN", "FR", "DE", "HE", "HI", "ID", "IT", "JA", "KO", "LO", "MS", "MN", "FA", "PT", "RU", "ZH", "ES", "TH", "ZH", "TR", "UK", "VI"] | Listing field: languageCodesISO2A Nihao China — App Store listing Apple, for the listing published by China UnionPay Co., Ltd. (中国银联) Open the source, read 2026-10-06 Read from Apple's own listing-data endpoint for this listing, which returns the store address above in its own trackViewUrl field. Same publisher, same listing, as data rather than as a rendered store page — so the figures below are what Apple publishes, not a screenshot we read. |
This layer is what UnionPay International and Apple themselves publish about the app, read off their own pages on October 6, 2026. It is not a list of cards that work: UnionPay names examples and stops, and neither of its pages carries a complete network list, so acceptance for a network it does not name can be neither promised nor ruled out here. Three things this page used to state could not be confirmed on any UnionPay page this time and have been removed rather than softened: that the three named networks are the whole list, that the app was announced on a second date in December 2025, and that an Apple account is a way to sign in. Neither UnionPay page publishes a fee or a transaction limit anywhere — re-read on both this pass — so this page still publishes none. Apple's listing also carries an earlier release date than UnionPay's launch date and no published explanation for the gap, so neither figure is offered as a second launch date. Star ratings and the app's undated sign-up coupons are left out on purpose: user opinion is not an operator fact, and a promotion with no end date expires without telling anyone.
Decision table
What each app is willing to publish before you land
A wallet that publishes its fee and its cap can be planned around. A wallet that publishes neither has to be tested with a small payment instead.
App
Card networks published
Fees published
Limits published
Weixin Pay
Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Discover Global Network including Diners Club, and UnionPay.
Source: Tencent / WeChat Help Center — Guide to Add and Use International Cards with Weixin Pay (read July 24, 2026)
Source: Tencent — Mobile Payment Solutions for Your China Journey: A Practical Guide (June 18, 2025; read July 24, 2026)
Yes. Waived under 200 RMB, 3% above 200 RMB, refunded in proportion on a refund.
Yes. 6,500 RMB single, 50,000 RMB monthly, 65,000 RMB yearly.
Alipay
Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club and Discover on the central bank's 2024 list. The operator's own page publishes the eligible-card logos as images only, so that list cannot be read as text.
Source: Ant International — Alipay+ | Pay in the Chinese mainland (read July 24, 2026)
Source: People's Bank of China — Guide to Payment Services in China (2024 edition, page updated May 25, 2024; read July 24, 2026)
None on any reachable Alipay-owned page.
None on any reachable Alipay-owned page.
Nihao China
No complete list. UnionPay names UnionPay cards issued outside the Chinese mainland plus Visa, Mastercard and other mainstream international bank cards as examples of what can top the app up; its app page carries no network list at all.
Source: UnionPay International — “Nihao China”APP正式上线 银联助力入境游便利化水平提升 (December 19, 2025; read July 24, 2026)
Source: UnionPay International — Nihao China app official page (read July 24, 2026)
None on either UnionPay page.
None on either UnionPay page.
Sources disagree
UnionPay's own two pages do not match
Both belong to UnionPay International. Where they differ we publish both figures rather than picking one.
Question
Operator landing page
Launch announcement
How many online platforms does it reach?
More than 200 platforms, naming 12306 rail tickets, Meituan, Ele.me, Ctrip and JD.com.
More than 300 platforms.
Both pages belong to UnionPay International and both were re-read on October 6, 2026, when the two platform counts still did not match. Where they disagree we publish both rather than picking the more flattering number. Neither page states a fee or a transaction limit anywhere, so neither do we.
Source: UnionPay International — Nihao China app official page (read July 24, 2026)
Source: UnionPay International — “Nihao China”APP正式上线 银联助力入境游便利化水平提升 (December 19, 2025; read July 24, 2026)
Check the version before you depend on it
Apple's listing showed version 1.0.8, released 2026-09-18, when we read it on October 6, 2026 — published by China UnionPay Co., Ltd., requiring iOS 13.0 or later, with 25 interface language entries covering 24 distinct languages. Still a 1.0.x build, but one being maintained: carry it alongside an established wallet rather than instead of one.
Source: China UnionPay Co., Ltd., listing hosted by Apple — Nihao China on the App Store (read July 24, 2026)
Traveler situations
When the answer changes
A payment recommendation should change with arrival time, trip length, card readiness, and how much risk the traveler can absorb on day one.
You want the newest visitor-first app
Try Nihao China, but keep Alipay or Weixin Pay ready.
Nihao China is designed for international visitors, but a first trip should not depend on one new app behaving perfectly in every city and merchant flow.
You need the safest everyday checkout plan
Prepare Alipay or Weixin Pay first, then add Nihao China.
The established wallets are still the practical default for small purchases, QR checkout, taxis, restaurants, and many local service flows.
You are arriving late or traveling with family
Use one tested wallet, hotel help, card backup, and small cash.
Late arrival is not the moment to debug identity prompts, card risk checks, or a new transport QR flow.
You are staying only a few days
Keep the setup simple: one primary wallet, one fallback wallet, one card/cash backup.
A short trip rewards reliability more than feature coverage. Avoid making every purchase a new app experiment.
Setup order
Prepare payment before the airport pressure starts
- 1Install Nihao China, Alipay, or Weixin Pay before departure while bank support and SMS approvals are easy to reach.
- 2Link the eligible card and confirm the payment screen opens without hunting through the app.
- 3Learn both merchant modes: scan a shop QR and show your own pay code.
- 4Keep mobile data, home-number SMS, and bank approval paths available for the first 48 hours.
- 5Carry a physical card and small cash reserve, especially for late arrival, taxis, staffed counters, and wallet failures.
Why Alipay can still fail
Understand card checks, QR modes, network issues, and fallback moves before the first checkout.
Open fallback guidePayment failure decision tree
Use a quick decision tool when wallet, card, QR, or network problems block a live payment.
Use toolIn short
Nihao China payment questions
Short answers for travelers comparing the new visitor app with the established wallet paths.
Should tourists use Nihao China instead of Alipay or Weixin Pay?
Most first-time visitors should not treat Nihao China as the only payment plan yet. It is worth trying as a visitor-first app, but Alipay or Weixin Pay plus card and cash backup remains the safer first-day stack.
Which cards can I link to Nihao China?
UnionPay's launch announcement names UnionPay cards issued outside the Chinese mainland plus Visa and Mastercard, and the sentence ends in 等 — and others of that kind. Those are examples, not a closed list, and neither UnionPay page publishes a complete one. Tencent does publish a full network list for Weixin Pay, which is why that remains the better-documented option.
Does Nihao China work with an American Express, JCB, Discover or Diners Club card?
Nobody can tell you from UnionPay's own pages, and that is the honest answer. The only card sentence UnionPay publishes is open-ended, and its app page carries no network list at all, so acceptance for a network UnionPay does not name is neither published nor ruled out. If your card is one of those four, set up Weixin Pay — whose operator does publish a full list including American Express — and treat Nihao China as something to test rather than rely on.
Do I need a working mobile number to put money into Nihao China?
For the funding route UnionPay lists first, yes. Its Quick Start Guide says enabling the Tour Wallet takes your mobile number and an SMS verification code, even though registration itself accepts an email address. The alternative UnionPay publishes is binding a bank card directly. If SMS to your home number will not work in China, sort that out before departure, because it decides which of the two routes is open to you.
Can I sign in to Nihao China with an Apple account?
No UnionPay page says so. The app page's only registration line is register using your email or mobile number, and the launch announcement does not mention registration at all. We used to list an Apple sign-in route here and have removed it, because it was not something UnionPay published.
What does Nihao China charge?
Neither of UnionPay's two pages publishes a fee or a transaction limit for the app. We are not going to fill that in from a third-party figure. Weixin Pay does publish both: fee waived under 200 RMB, 3% above, and limits of 6,500 RMB per transaction, 50,000 RMB a month and 65,000 RMB a year.
Is Nihao China useful if I already have Alipay?
Its clearest advantage is transport: UnionPay states metro coverage in 43 cities and bus coverage across more than 1,760 county-level regions, which is the part of a first week that city-specific transport codes make painful. The practical question is whether it works with your card, device, city, and payment scenario.
Which app should I set up first before going to China?
Set up the app you can operate fastest at a real cashier. For many visitors that means Alipay or Weixin Pay first, then Nihao China as an added option. One tested wallet matters more than three apps you cannot use under pressure.
What payment backup should I keep in China?
Keep a second wallet, second card if possible, physical card, and small cash reserve for the first 48 hours. Also keep mobile data and bank approval paths working, because many wallet failures are network or card-risk problems.
Before you book
Check the live app and payment sources
Nihao China is new enough that travelers should recheck official app pages, version notes, card support, fees, and city coverage before relying on it.
UnionPay International
Nihao China official app page
The operator's landing page covers mobility, payments, translation, a Tour Balance and card binding, and states registration by email address or mobile number. Data plans, visa appointments and tax refunds appear on the App Store listing rather than here.
Open sourceUnionPay International
Nihao China launch announcement
UnionPay's own newsroom, which names UnionPay foreign cards and mainstream international cards such as Visa and Mastercard, and describes the card route as topping the app up. The operator's English app page publishes both routes side by side — a prepaid Tour Balance you top up, or binding the card itself. It also carries the launch date of December 19, 2025 and conversion for more than 160 currencies.
Open sourceApp Store
Nihao China app listing
Published by China UnionPay Co., Ltd. Use it for the current version, the iOS 13.0 minimum, and the interface languages: Apple published version 1.0.8 of 2026-09-18 and 25 language entries when we read the listing on October 6, 2026.
Open source